Learn From Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1992|By Red

After 51 years, there is not much left to say about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It was one awful, bloody wake-up call to an America that had snuggled down between two oceans and grown complacent about its role in international affairs.

The appalling ignorance of most Americans remains fixed on the microfilm of newspapers. In man-in-the-street interviews after the attack, so many Americans demonstrated that they had virtually zero knowledge about Japan. Some were not quite sure where it was. Others were convinced all Japanese were short, bucktoothed and nearsighted because ''they ate only rice.'' Many suggested the war would be over in a matter of weeks because such short, skinny people couldn't possibly be good soldiers.

In fact, Japan had a long history of being a nation of warriors. In fact, Japan had transformed itself from a near-feudal country to a modern industrial power at a miraculous pace, beginning in the middle of the 19th century. No one looking at that incredible leap forward would have ever underestimated Japan. But few in the United States had looked. Americans' eyes were turned inward. Nobody was interested in what ''foreigners'' were doing anywhere, much less in studying their history.

While the past cannot be undone, it can be repeated, more or less. Complacency, xenophobia and ignorance are as dangerous today as they were in the 1930s. While we remember Pearl Harbor, we must also work to prevent future ''Pearl Harbors'' in whatever form they might take. We can do that by remaining engaged, informed and aware of the world in which we are forever a part.